My familiarity with The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and
Mr. Hyde before reading it today began and ended with hearing of the title.
As such, I actually had no idea that the story had to do with a split
personality disorder until towards the end of the novel. But, I’m kind of glad
that I had no background knowledge of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, because going
into the novel without knowing much about it allowed me to “get into it” more.
I read the whole thing through without putting it down and thought it was
interesting, although the language was admittedly a little difficult at some
parts.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde displays the struggle between
our inner monsters and our inner heroes. We all like to declare ourselves “good
people” or even heroes, as displayed through Dr. Jekyll, the upstanding (literally,
and figuratively) older doctor with lots of friends; but we also have a desire
to get in touch with our monstrous sides, as displayed through Mr. Hyde, the evil
young man. Of course, most people without split personality disorder do not
experience this to the extent as the character in the novel does, but we all
have experienced this to some degree.
Think about even the most insignificant time it has happened
to you… Your parents tell you not to eat a snack when you get home from school
because you’ll ruin your appetite. But still, when they leave the room, you
sneak a cookie. You know it’s wrong, but you still want the cookie. It’s interesting
that this phenomenon occurs. We all know some things that we do are considered
wrong, but we still do them. Of course, killing a bunch of innocent people is a
lot more wrong than sneaking a cookie, but still. Why do we do these things,
knowing they are wrong? We want to be good, but are people inherently
bad?
The fact that I didn’t realize that Jekyll and Hyde were
actually the same person I think adds to the novel’s motif of the struggle
between inner good and evil. I personally am always inclined to see people as
either good or evil, especially in works of fiction. However, as we are
discovering in the many works we have read/watched in this class, people can,
and do, have both monstrous and heroic qualities.
Another interesting point raised by the novel is regarding
the age difference between Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Dr. Jekyll looked/was older
than Mr. Hyde. Does this mean that the author is suggesting that older people
with more experience are “better” people, while younger people are more
inclined to be monstrous? Although some may argue that this could be true, I
think that people can be monstrous regardless of age.
Overall, I enjoyed the read and thought the novel raised some very interesting points.
Alyssa, I love your metaphor of sneaking the cookie. It makes the concept of hidden desires and doing things you know you shouldn't do super relatable. There are so many times growing up that you do things you’re not supposed to for a number of reasons: defiance, mere curiosity, stubbornness, to name a few. Why is it that most people can stop at mere transgressions while others cross the line to monstrous acts, such as murder? Did they not rebel a little every now and then? Is that the key to keeping a life of balance, small acts of deviance so that your inner monster is fed and won’t truly rear it's ugly head? Would that have kept Dr. Jekyll from creating Mr. Hyde?
ReplyDeleteThe phrase "kids are cruel" came to mind when reading your second-to-last paragraph. Stevenson may very well be implying that older people are less subservient to their desires than younger individuals. Alternatively, his point could be that the experience older people have steers them away from making reckless decisions. Ageism aside, I think there is some validity to the latter idea. Personal experience goes a long way for helping a person to succeed.
ReplyDeleteI like the cookie reference and the Spongebob gif. I believe that the tendency to be good and bad exists within all of us. Ultimately, I think it boils down to what society expects from us and our desire to be self-servant. In regards to your cookie analogy, the "society" (the parents) tells us not to misbehave (eat the cookie) but ultimately we do it anyway because A) we want the cookie, B) we want to rebel against societal norms, and C) the desire to satisfy self is often a tough one to break, even if it means others may not emerge as well off as us. Perhaps it's because humans are inherently opposed to being told what to do, or maybe because people get a rush off of misbehaving. Whatever the case may be, perhaps it may not be a good thing to give into desires and eat the cookie, and perhaps exercise self-control (like Dr. Jekyll should have attempted to do.)
ReplyDeleteAwh! Alyssa I love the gif and your metaphor which really emphasizes what you mean when you say that we all have our inner monsters which show in even the smallest of ways. I think this is why I thought this book was really relate-able. Many people want things from our monstrous side to come out whether it is monstrous to ourselves or others. Especially with college students who want to have fun and let loose sometimes but also want to study and get good grades. But what was interesting was that Dr. Jekyll really did want to repress his monstrous self and be what society deemed appropriate which was being a serious person who didn't succumb to sexual desires. I'm glad you enjoyed the book like I did.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting how you said we like to declare ourselves as good people, rather than monsters or anything of the sort. Though I do think this is the case, is there any real "good person" or hero in this story? It seems pretty obvious that Hyde is the hero, but I don't think we can necessarily say that Dr.Jekyll is a hero. What do you think?
ReplyDelete